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By exploring the impact of digital knowledge resources (DKR) on the carbon emission intensity of the pig industry (PCEI), this study aims to reveal the role of DKR in reducing PCEI.

Based on provincial panel data in China from 2011 to 2021, this study uses the entropy and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coefficient methods to calculate the evaluation index system of DKR and PCEI, respectively. Empirical analysis using a panel fixed-effects model examines the influence of DKR on PCEI and its underlying mechanisms.

DKR can significantly reduce PCEI. This conclusion still holds even after undergoing endogeneity treatment and a series of robustness tests. Mechanism test results indicate that DKR can operate indirectly through the mediation mechanism of rural human capital (RHC) and pig breeding technology innovation (PTI), while environmental regulation intensity (ERI) plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between DKR and PCEI. The magnitude of the impact of DKR on PCEI depends on ERI. Further studies found that the impact of DKR on PCEI has obvious heterogeneity characteristics, and the promotion effect is more obvious in regions with good integration degrees and high development potential.

This paper divides DKR into three dimensions: digital technology knowledge (DTK), digital management knowledge (DMK) and digital application knowledge (DAK), providing a new framework for research and enriching the understanding of the relationship between DKR and PCEI. Furthermore, the research results reveal the application potential of DKR in the pig industry, particularly in terms of resource allocation efficiency. This is of great significance for promoting low-carbon development in the pig industry and provides insights for the low-carbon transformation of other industries. In addition, the study emphasizes the moderating effect of ERI on the mechanism of carbon reduction in the pig industry through DKR. This offers a new perspective for understanding the relationship between knowledge management and environmental governance, providing a reference basis for policy formulation in related fields.

This paper further enriches the role of DKR in the livestock industry. Integrating DKR with traditional industries promotes knowledge innovation, information distribution and utilization and scientific decision-making. This has significant value in promoting the development and application of carbon reduction technologies, enhancing industrial competitive advantages, and other aspects.

The bridge expansion joint (BEJ) is a key device for accommodating spatial displacement at the beam end, and for providing vertical support for running trains passing over the gap between the main bridge and the approach bridge. For long-span railway bridges, it must also be coordinated with rail expansion joint (REJ), which is necessary to accommodate the expansion and contraction of, and reducing longitudinal stress in, the rails. The main aim of this study is to present analysis of recent developments in the research and application of BEJs in high-speed railway (HSR) long-span bridges in China, and to propose a performance-based integral design method for BEJs used with REJs, from both theoretical and engineering perspectives.

The study first presents a summary on the application and maintenance of BEJs in HSR long-span bridges in China representing an overview of their state of development. Results of a survey of typical BEJ faults were analyzed, and field testing was conducted on a railway cable-stayed bridge in order to obtain information on the major mechanical characteristics of its BEJ under train load. Based on the above, a performance-based integral design method for BEJs with maximum expansion range 1600 mm (±800 mm), was proposed, covering all stages from overall conceptual design to consideration of detailed structural design issues. The performance of the novel BEJ design thus derived was then verified via theoretical analysis under different scenarios, full-scale model testing, and field testing and commissioning.

Two major types of BEJs, deck-type and through-type, are used in HSR long-span bridges in China. Typical BEJ faults were found to mainly include skewness of steel sleepers at the bridge gap, abnormally large longitudinal frictional resistance, and flexural deformation of the scissor mechanisms. These faults influence BEJ functioning, and thus adversely affect track quality and train running performance at the beam end. Due to their simple and integral structure, deck-type BEJs with expansion range 1200 mm (± 600 mm) or less have been favored as a solution offering improved operational conditions, and have emerged as a standard design. However, when the expansion range exceeds the above-mentioned value, special design work becomes necessary. Therefore, based on engineering practice, a performance-based integral design method for BEJs used with REJs was proposed, taking into account four major categories of performance requirements, i.e., mechanical characteristics, train running quality, durability and insulation performance. Overall BEJ design must mainly consider component strength and the overall stiffness of BEJ; the latter factor in particular has a decisive influence on train running performance at the beam end. Detailed BEJ structural design must stress minimization of the frictional resistance of its sliding surface. The static and dynamic performance of the newly-designed BEJ with expansion range 1600 mm have been confirmed to be satisfactory, via numerical simulation, full-scale model testing, and field testing and commissioning.

This research provides a broad overview of the status of BEJs with large expansion range in HSR long-span bridges in China, along with novel insights into their design.

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the relationship between the founder’s control level over the startup and the startup’s board size on fundraising efficiency, in addition to examining how these factors are influenced by different resource combinations that the startup attracts.

A sample of 1356 firm-year observations is collected from both the startup database of Business Next Media Corp. in Taiwan and the Company Registration and Business Registration Database of Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Department of Commerce. The panel data analytic approach with fixed effect is used for hypothesis testing.

The founder’s shareholding negatively correlates with fundraising efficiency; such a negative relationship can be alleviated by incorporating foreign investors. The board size positively correlates with fundraising efficiency; such a positive relationship can be mitigated by the inclusion of external corporate directors.

While a conventional understanding posits that startups with diverse, multiplex and symmetrical boards can rapidly construct a diverse alliance portfolio, henceforth always being beneficial to growth, this research challenges this notion by probing the possible adverse effects of having an excessive number of outside corporate directors on a startup’s fundraising efficiency.

The China-plus-one strategy is an increasingly attractive supply chain risk management strategy and has been adopted by many multinational enterprises. However, relevant research remains limited and warrants empirical validation. This paper addresses this research gap by investigating the determinants of emerging multinational enterprises’ adoption of a China-plus-one strategy.

The China-plus-one adoption decision of 1,527 firms was predicted using a logistic model based on Taiwan’s official data – Investigation of Foreign Sales and Manufacturing, for the years 2020–2022. This database is administered by the Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (DSMEA) in Taiwan. Analysis was conducted using SPSS 25.0.

It is suggested that customer pressure and supplier relocation, functioning as push forces, lead to the China-plus-one strategy adopted by Taiwanese firms. Regarding pull forces, lower production cost has a positive association with China-plus-one adoption, whereas sufficient local workforce supply does not have a significant effect. Finally, in terms of the mooring forces, local sales performance is negatively related to the strategy adoption, whereas local access to components shows a positive association with such strategy.

This research uniquely adopts the push–pull–mooring framework to examine factors affecting supply chain restructuring in international business, representing a novel domain for this framework.

This study aims to explore the nuanced role of organizational “collectives” in transmitting the effect of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on organizations’ market success and workforce retention.

The multi-source data was collected from 113 construction firms operating in Pakistan using a survey questionnaire.

The findings indicate that collective human capital and collective satisfaction of organizations differentially mediate the effect of HPWS on market success and workforce retention. Collective satisfaction mediates the effect of HPWS on both market success and workforce retention, however collective human capital only mediates this relationship for market success of organizations.

Organizations should consider prioritizing investment in cognitive and affective development of overall human resources. Knowledge, skills, abilities and emotions of individual employees operate at the collective level so organizations should design HRM practices to manage collective thoughts and interpretations.

This is the first study to investigate human capital and satisfaction at the collective organization level to explore collective developmental and motivational paths for HPWS to boost organization strategic outcomes.

Up to 89.1% of consumers have changed their decisions due to the influence of online reviews. In order to increase the number of reviews, some websites and platforms have adopted feedback incentives. Research shows that offering review incentives does increase the likelihood of consumers writing reviews. However, the review reward system also brings some problems. Consumers may doubt the authenticity of product reviews that are incentivized by rewards, believing that reviewers are only writing reviews for personal gain, which has a negative impact on the credibility of the reviews. To address this issue, this study proposes a mechanism for mandatory disclosure of review incentives as research demonstrates that transparent online communication of a platform’s efforts can substantially boost review helpfulness restore trust in online platforms, and even improve purchase intentions.

This study applies the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) theoretical framework and utilizes a simulated situational questionnaire to investigate the impact of online reviews on consumers' emotional and behavioral responses within the context of a mandatory disclosure review reward system. The model identifies four key constructs: review quality as the Stimulus, review credibility and review usefulness as the Organism, and purchase intention as the Response. Data were collected through the questionnaire and subsequently analyzed to understand these relationships.

The results show that review quality has a significant positive impact on review credibility, review usefulness and purchase intention. Similarly, review credibility and review usefulness also have significant positive impacts on purchase intention.

To mitigate the potential negative effects of review reward systems, this study introduces a mandatory disclosure of the review reward and examines its impact using a simulated situational questionnaire. The study hypothesizes that mandatory disclosure of rewarded reviews enables consumers to identify these reviews, which may, in turn, enhance their purchase intentions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the negative expectation–performance gap on the internationalization speed as well as the moderating role of organizational slack, based on the performance feedback theory and the springboard perspective.

This paper takes the Chinese A-share listed companies engaged in outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) between 2010 and 2022 as the research sample. A two-way fixed effects model is employed to test the research hypotheses, using a dataset comprising 6,868 observations.

The findings show that there is a positive relationship between the negative expectation–performance gap and internationalization speed for Chinese multinational enterprises (CMNEs). In addition, this effect is stronger in private CMNEs. Furthermore, the relationship is negatively moderated by organizational slack. Additional findings suggest that that negative industry expectation-performance gap has a stronger impact on the internationalization speed. The moderating effect of unabsorbed slack resources is more pronounced.

When emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) face the dilemma of underperforming, they may consider a rapid internationalization strategy as a solution to improve performance. However, EMNEs should be wary of falling into a resource trap. Organizational slack reduces managers’ incentives to identify issues associated with negative performance feedback, thereby diminishing the likelihood of addressing performance challenges through rapid internationalization. For state-owned EMNEs, optimizing organizational structure and improving the efficiency of responses to negative performance feedback are essential.

Unlike previous studies, this paper integrates performance feedback theory and the springboard perspective to explore in depth the relationship between performance feedback, internationalization speed and organizational slack within the context of managers’ cognitive and decision-making mechanisms. It also examines the distinct impacts of historical and industry negative expectation–performance gaps as well as the different moderating roles of absorbed and unabsorbed organizational slack, which have not been explored together before.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of green finance on human well-being in China in the context of urbanization and aging population. It aims to explore the contributions of green finance in such demographic scenarios.

This study innovates and optimizes the calculation of the carbon intensity of human well-being (CIWB) index and strengthens the integrity of the assessment model for green finance development. It uses the serial multiple mediator model and moderation effect analysis to address the impact of green finance on human well-being in China on the provincial level from 2009 to 2020.

Green finance has a significant, positive and direct impact on human well-being. Simultaneously, it influences human well-being indirectly through three transmission channels. Urbanization and an ageing population are significant individual mediators through which green finance contributes to human well-being improvement. Notably, these two mediators also work together to transfer the promotional impact of green finance to human well-being.

The government can perfect the regulations to strengthen the market ecosystem to accelerate the development of green finance. Reforms on the administrative division to expand the size of cities with the implementation of ageing friendly development strategy is also necessary. Attracting incoming foreign direct investment in sustainable projects and adjusting public projects and trade activities to fulfil the sustainable principles are also regarded as essential.

The findings challenge traditional views on the impact of aging populations, highlighting the beneficial role of green finance in improving well-being amidst demographic changes. This offers a new perspective on economic and environmental sustainability in aging societies.

A multi-dimensional well-being indicator, CIWB and the serial multiple mediator model are used and direct and indirect impacts of green finance on human well-being is exhibited. It offers novel insights on the transmission channels behind, identifies the mediating role of urbanization and ageing population and offers empirical evidences with strong academic and policy implications.

This study aims to widen the understanding of how remote work shapes the feedback environment by examining the perceptions of leaders and subordinates of daily, dyadic feedback interactions. The emphasis is on understanding how reciprocity within leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships manifests and how it influences the feedback dynamics.

Template analysis of a qualitative data set consisting of 81 semi-structured interviews with leaders (n = 29) and remote working subordinates (n = 52) was performed.

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of the feedback environment and the leader-member exchange, the findings demonstrate the imbalance between the efforts of leaders and subordinates in building and maintaining a favourable feedback environment in the remote work context. The results of this study highlight the importance of the dyadic nature of feedback interactions, calling for a more proactive role from subordinates.

Given the estimation that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the way organizations work, leaders, subordinates and HR practitioners will benefit from advancing their understanding of the characteristics of dyadic, daily feedback interaction in remote work.

Qualitative research on feedback and leader-member exchange interactions in remote work that combines the perceptions of leaders and subordinates is sparse.

This research investigates the complex relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU), energy consumption and institutional factors in the Gulf region. The purpose of this study is to examine how institutional factors moderate the impact of EPU on energy consumption in Gulf countries.

This paper uses the dynamic panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) method, over a period stretching from 1996 to 2021 in the Gulf countries.

The results show that, only in the long term, EPU has a positive and significant impact on energy consumption, suggesting that increased EPU leads to increased energy use. Furthermore, this study found that, only in the long term, government effectiveness and regulatory quality have positive and significant effect on energy consumption. Accordingly, the two institutional factors play a moderating role in the EPU−energy consumption nexus.

This study highlights the importance of considering the time dimension when formulating energy and economic policies in Gulf countries. Policymakers should take into consideration the nature of these relationships to make informed decisions that promote energy efficiency and economic stability in the region.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the relationship between EPU and energy consumption in the Gulf countries while incorporating the role of institutional factors as potential mediators.